1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a buckle for engagement with fastening belts or bands for a various types of bags such as a mountain-climbing bag, a sports bag and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A widely used conventional buckle of this type is illustrated in FIG. 12, by way of an example. Referring to this figure, the conventional buckle consists of a male section 10 and a female section 20 that are detachably mated to each other. In such conventional buckle it is common that the male section 10 and the female section 20 are each integrally molded of any suitable materials such as plastic. The male section 10 includes a resilient latch portion 11 at the front end thereof for detachably mating with the female section 20. The male section 10 further includes an engagement portion 12 at the rear end thereof for adjustably engagement with a fastening belt or band for a bag. On the other hand, the female section 20 includes a mating recess 21 at the front end thereof for detachably receiving the resilient latch portion 11 of the male section 10. The female section 20 further includes an engagement portion 22 at the rear end thereof for fixedly engagement with a fastening belt or band for the bag. In more detail, the engagement portion 12 of the male section 10 includes an engagement rod 12A, a base rod 12B, and through-holes 12C, 12D formed at forward and back sides of the engagement rod 12A. The engagement portion 22 of the female section 20 includes an engagement rod 22A and a through-hole 22B formed at forward side of the engagement rod 22A. In actual the base rod 12B is provided with a tapered top surface 12Bxe2x80x2 downwardly extending toward the engagement rod 12A, and a corrugated bottom surface for preventing any slippage of the belt.
The conventional buckle described above is illustrated in FIG. 13, as being used for one type of a bag, for example, a sports bag. Such bag has an adjustable fastening belt 32 secured at one end to a bag body 31, and a fixed fastening belt 34 secured at one end to a cover 33 of the bag. The fastening belts 32 and 34 are engaged with the conventional buckle in the following manner. A free end of the adjustable fastening belt 32 is passed through the through-hole 12C from back to front side, and then it is passed through the through-hole 12D from front to back side. As the result the belt 32 is wound around the engagement rod 12A. Now the adjustable fastening belt 32 becomes adjustably engaged with the male section 10 of the buckle. Similarly, an end of the fixed fastening belt 34 is passed through the through-hole 22B from front to back side so that the belt 34 is wound around the engagement rod 22A. Thereafter, both ends of the belt 34 are secured to the cover 33 by a sewing process, for example. Now the fixed fastening belt 34 becomes fixedly engaged with the female section 20 of the buckle.
In this manner the bag body 31 is provided with the adjustable fastening belt 32 having the male section 10 of the buckle adjustably engaged therewith, and the cover 33 is provided with the fixed fastening belt 34 having the female section 20 fixedly engaged therewith. Then an active length of the adjustable fastening belt 32 ranging from one end portion thereof secured on the bag body 31 to a point where the belt 32 is wound around the engagement rod 12A is adjusted to suit to the thickness of the bag body 31 or the amount of goods within the bag at that moment. Thereafter the resilient latch arms 11 of the male section 10 are snapped into the mating recess 21 of the female section 20 to connect the both fastening belts 32 and 34 to each other. As the result the cover 33 is reliably fastened to the bag body 31 to close the bag.
When it is desired to open the bag or to separate the cover 33 from the bag body 31, the resilient latch arms 11 of the male section 10 are resiliently biased toward each other. Then, they are pulled out from the mating recess 21 of the female section 20 to disconnect the adjustable fastening belt 32 and the fixed fastening belt 34 from each other.
The conventional buckle having the components as described above is sufficiently effective in that fastening or separating of the bag body to or from the cover can be made simply by connection or disconnection of both fastening belts. Furthermore, adjustment of said active length of the adjustable fastening belt is facilitated to suit to the amount of goods within the bag. The conventional buckle functions satisfactorily without any problem in the normal condition wherein when the male and female sections are mated together some pulling or tensile force is exerted between the adjustable fastening belt on the male section and the fixed fastening belt on the female section.
It has been found, however, that the conventional buckle may cause some problems in the following cases. Reference is made to FIG. 14 that is a side view partially representing the relation between the bag body 31 and the cover 33, as illustrated in the perspective view of FIG. 13. As is apparent in FIG. 14, when the male section 10 having the adjustable fastening belt 32 engaged therewith (with the active length adjusted) is mated to the female section 20 having the fixed fastening belt 34 engaged therewith to fasten the bag body 31 to the cover 33, then it may happen that the engagement portion 12 of the male section 10 slightly projects beyond the bottom surface of the bag body 31 due to the thickness of the bag body 31 or the amount of the goods within the bag at that moment. In this condition, even if any pulling force indicated by an arrow xe2x80x9cFxe2x80x9d is applied to one end of the adjustable fastening belt 32, such pulling force xe2x80x9cFxe2x80x9d may not act to oppose the pulling force on the fixed fastening belt 34. Because of such pulling force xe2x80x9cFxe2x80x9d substantially perpendicular to the direction of the engagement portion 12 of the male section 10, it may act to gradually unwind the adjustable fastening belt 32 from the engagement rod 12A of the engagement portion 12. Even in such condition there is no possibility that the resilient latch portion 11 of the male section 10 completely disengages from the mating recess 21 of the female section 20. However, it may possible that the active length of the adjustable fastening belt 32 ranging from the end portion thereof secured to the bag body 31 to a point where the belt is wound around the engagement portion 12 of the male section 10 becomes gradually increased. This gradually decreases the fastening force of the cover 33 relative to the bag body 31 to such degree that there is no effective fastening force exerted. If the entire length of the adjustable fastening belt 32 is relatively short then the free end of the adjustable fastening belt 32 may completely disengage from the engagement portion 12 of the male section 10 so that the male section 10 may drop off, in the worst case.
In view of the above one object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved buckle in order to solve the problems in the prior art.
To attain such object the present invention provides a buckle comprising a first section including an engagement portion for engagement with a belt-like, flexible, adjustable fastening member and a latch portion, and a second section which is structured to detachably mate with said latch portion of said first section, said engagement portion being capable of pivotally moving to said latch portion.
According to one embodiment of the present invention said first section is a male type and said second section is a female type.
According to another embodiment of the present invention said first section is a female type and said second section is a male type.
According to further embodiment of the present invention said latch portion includes pivot shafts at the opposite sides of a base portion thereof; and said engagement portion includes pivot holes for receiving said pivot shafts, whereby said pivotal movement of said engagement portion is effected about said pivot shafts and pivot holes mated to each other.
According to yet further embodiment of the present invention said latch portion includes pivot holes at the opposite sides of a base portion thereof; and said engagement portion includes pivot shafts for mating to said pivot holes, whereby said pivotal movement of said engagement portion is effected about said pivot shafts and pivot holes mated to each other.
According to yet further embodiment of the present invention said engagement portion and said latch portion are connected through a flexible thin member, whereby said pivotal movement of said engagement portion is effected about said flexible this member.
According to yet further embodiment of the present invention said engagement portion includes an engagement rod and a base rod; said base rod includes a tapered top surface downwardly extending toward said engagement rod; a first through-hole is formed between said base portion of the latch portion and said engagement rod; a second through-hole is formed between said engagement rod and said base rod; whereby an end portion of said adjustable fastening member is passed through said first through-hole from the back to front side, and then it is passed through said second through-hole from front to back side, so that said adjustable fastening member is wound around said engagement rod; and said adjustable fastening member is kept wound between an end portion of said tapered surface of said base portion and said engagement rod.
In another aspect the present invention provides a buckle comprising a first section including an engagement portion for engagement with a belt-like, flexible, fixed fastening member and a latch portion, and a second section which is structured to detachably mate with said latch portion of said first section and including an engagement portion for engagement with an adjustable fastening member, said engagement portion of said first section being capable of pivotally moving to said latch portion.